Tuesday, November 25, 2014

My friend Kateri and I have decided to re-watch all of Murder She Wrote now that the series is streaming on Netflix. We kicked off this undertaking last week and it was great. The idea was prompted by Bonnie Burton who made a drinking game for the show. Thing is, Bonnie's list is really long and if we are busy drinking and watch and talking to each other, we will miss a lot of game prompts. This led me to create Bingo cards with the game prompts randomly distributed on them. For each square you get, take a drink. When you get 5 in a row you have to finish your drink.

Kateri's card and drink

Kateri is in Portland and I'm in Chicago, so we are "watching together" via video call (Google Hangouts). We did a countdown to press play and went on from there. It is a great way to make a date to see each other like we used to before she moved. It also involves a show we both have watched and loved.

My card and drink. The bingo dabber is a remnant from the Grandma Club bingo excursion from a ew year ago.

We are planning on doing this on the regular, so feel free to virtually join us on Twitter and Instagram with the hashtag #MurderSheDrank . The next Murder She Drank is Dec. 22nd at 7pm CST. We are going to watch episodes 3 and 4. I highly recommend you watch episodes 1 and 2 if you want to join us as this two-part story is Jessica Fletcher's origin story.

I've made 9 Bingo Drinking cards available as a PDF download here. Each card has an ID number on them (A3 or C2, so on) so you can match or mismatch cards with your drinking buddy. Have fun and hope to see you on Instagram and Twitter.

Tuesday, December 04, 2012

The story Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons is one of the rare occasions where I watch the movie before I read the book. Shana highly suggested the movie to me and since I was still waiting for the library book to get in, I decided to do some knitting while watching the film.

Firstly, the outfits that Flora Poste wears are awesome. Secondly, the story portrayed in both medias are a great ride. I honestly can't say whether I liked the movie or the book better, but I will say that the screen adaption changes enough to make it both interesting yet representative of the original story. Whoever thought to cast Joanna Lumley in the movie was a smart cookie. Although I don't think she fits the written description for Mary Smiling at all, she is great in the film version.

I highly suggest you both read the book and watch the movie. The sarcastic tone is more entertaining in the book, but the film version has too much eye candy to miss. The acting is quite clever too and it has Ian McKellen, Rufus Sewell, AND Stephen Fry in it, for goodness sakes!

Before I sign off on the matter, here are some of my favorite outfits of Poste's in the film adaptation. Oddly enough, they are aher travel & active wear. Hmmm.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Firstly, thank you for your comments on my previous post about personal style. I'll respond to you individually, but know that your thoughts were great to read. Now onto a man who has a very refined sense of style, Hercule Poirot.

From the episode "The Lost Mine"

With all the knitting I've been doing lately I've been listening to a lot of Old Time Radio (new station that I found and love is AudioNoir) and watching a lot of Netflix. One thing in particular that I have been marathoning is Poirot. Netflix has 40-some episodes of Poirot on instant watch, starting with the first David Suchet one. The one problem I find with watching a whole mess of Poirot at once is that I start getting a wee obsessed over some things. Like his office.

From the episode "The Plymouth Express"

His desk is especially drool-worthy to me, especially the metal desk lamp and phone. I did some research on that style of lamp he has and it seems to be a piano light. The back reflector is there so it shines all the light onto the music sheet. I have yet been able to find one just like his.

From the episode "Four and Twenty Blackbirds"

The above image from Sweet Sunday Mornings' post on Ms. Lemon, Poirot's secretary. You definitely should check out her post as it is just full of awesome Ms. Lemon outfits. Her whole style is worth several posts for sure.

Another thing Poirot has got me hooked on is the idea of serving coffee in a proper cup and saucer. The problem is finding a set that is a style I like and not a bajilliony dollars. Needless to say, the hunt is still on.

From the episode "The Mystery of the Spanish Chest"

From the episode "The Cheap Flat"

The different designs of tea sets they have for this series is intense. Just check out the super Deco set in this Poirot article in the Daily Mail (scroll to bottom). The silver set below is fabulous, but I would never want to own one myself. (Think of all the cleaning!)

From the episode "The Double Clue"

There are plenty of other things I'm obsessing over, thanks to the Poirot TV series, but I'll save those for another day. If you need more of a Poirot fix, I got most of these images from the Poirot Flickr Group over here.

Thursday, November 01, 2012

There is no way in a million years that I could resist sharing this documentary with you all. Here is a BBC piece on P.G. Wodehouse, presented by Terry Wogan titled "Wogan on Wodehouse." I hope you enjoy.

Tuesday, August 07, 2012

Thanks to Noel for bringing this lovely and very short film to my attention. I really enjoy this shop's feel and concept and I especially like the owner's outfit. Anyone want to fly to Stockholm for some traditional sweets?

Thursday, May 03, 2012

To celebrate Cinco de Mayo (which is this weekend), here is a clip of Tongolele, burlesque dancer and actress of the Cinema of Mexico. I'm unsure what film this clip is from, so if you know, please comment with the title.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

As Donovan and I prepare for our Champaign-Urbana Letter Writing Social, I find my mind preoccupied with typewriters. Since we are giving one away at the social, I can't help but think about how happy the person who wins the typewriter will feel.

I try to think back about how I felt when I got my first typewriter, which was given to me for free many many years ago. How exciting it all was. The clacking sounds, my soar finger tips, the accomplished feeling you get just from hitting the keys. I found this clip from the movie Ready, Willing, and Able (1937) and felt it is the closest to expressing what that first typewriter feeling is like. I hope you enjoy.

For those of you who can join us this weekend at the Mini-Maker Faire, the above typewriter is the one we have up for grabs. Stop by, say hello, and get a giveaway ticket.

Thursday, April 05, 2012

Rear Window is one of my favorite Hitchcock films. I've always been mesmerized by the life of the courtyard in the community. It reminds me a lot of the apartment I had while living in Savannah, GA a few years ago. My patio butted-up against my back-neighbor's deck. He often played his trumpet with his windows open. The sound would trickle in through my open windows. It was so soothing and comforting to hear. Living in older apartments, where you can hear your neighborhood noises, you lose comforts like temperature control, but gain a sense of community.

And why all this rambling about the Rear Window courtyard? Well, Jeff Desom has lovingly pasted together all of the courtyard scenes from Rear Window so you view all the actions in chronological order. (See above) How the heck was he able to accomplish this? Desom explains that “[s]ince everything was filmed from pretty much the same angle I was able to match them into a single panoramic view of the entire backyard without any greater distortions.”

It is an amazing sequence that I can watch over and over again. I hope you enjoy viewing i to. (Via The Atlantic)

Thursday, March 22, 2012

In looking through Netflix to find something good to watch while I finished Donovan's sweater, I discovered a BBC mini-series called Island at War (2005). I was curious to what it was about and was surprised to find it had to do with German's occupying British soil. What now? Yes, from 1940-1945 Germans occupied the Channel Islands, and this mini-series deals with the first half of that occupation.

This was a very good, yet very hard to watch, series. You would like to think that something like this didn't happen and if it did, it would have been a passive occupation, since the islands had no military to speak of. But no. The German military considered this a "model occupation" and saw it as amazing propaganda, so it was full on occupation. They even changed the cities and streets on the Chanel Islands to German names.

The show follows three families of different classes and shows how the occupation is changing their lives. SF Chronicle criticized that while we see many bad Germans in this show, but that there are few bad British characters shown. I'm not sure I agree with this statement, as we see looting, black market profiteers, and countrymen turning against others over rumors. It gets quite awful between British characters if you pay attention to the undercurrents.

There are some shocking moments in this series, which in turn made me learn about tiny everyday facts from the homefront. For example, I had no idea that the hatred toward women who "fraternized" with Germans was expressed and acted against during occupation. I was aware of the violence against these women after liberation, but assumed that it was repressed (out of fear) during the war. And this, my friends, is where we get the colorful slang "Jerry bag," which is used quite often in the second half of the season. Ah, British folks are so much better at slang than Americans.

Unfortunately, this show terminated after the first season, so it ends quite abruptly. There are only 6 shows, but I highly suggest watching them. There is some very good television here and there are many actors you will recognized from shows like Life on Mars, Downton Abbey, and Midsomer Murders. So, just watch it already!

Thursday, March 08, 2012

I will start off this post with a confession: I have not seen The Artist yet. I know. It's horrible, but I just haven't had any time to go and see it.

With all that out in the open I think it absolutely awesome that The Artist won an Oscar and I am enjoying the writings and analyzing that is happening due to the popularity of the film. One of the best articles about silent cinema and its importance that I have read recently is from the New Yorker.

Intertitle from Miss Lulu Bett (1921)

David Denby does an amazing job talking about nuances of silent film and how one appreciates it today in his article "The Artists: Notes on a lost style of acting." I feel silly not knowing that most silent films are not shown in the right speed when you see them on TV or through dvd. I always try to watch silents in the theater to save myself the pain of crappy music that weren't meant to be with the images before my eyes. The speeding up of the film makes the nuanced movements of the actors campy and quick, argues Denby, and loses the delicacy of the silent movie's magic.

Still from Ménilmontant (1925)

Another aspect of the article that really got to me is the impact of the larger than life actor/actress:

Seen properly, the best early movies were a revelation, particularly the sight of actors in closeup—filling a screen fifty feet or more across the diagonal, they presented a new landscape of flesh that astonished viewers. Faces that large might have appeared on billboards, but they didn’t move—they didn’t tremble like a field of grain or surge like the sea. - Denby, page 2

I've experience this awe-effect first hand when I saw Beyond the Rocks (1922) in a theater. I never saw the big deal about Valentino until this movie. As I sat and watched him act I realized why he was important, but I didn't get why he was a sex symbol, until his close-up. I think I actually gasped out loud when his entire face was projected on the screen. His pooled eyes, quivering lips...it was all emotion and it was all directed at me. It was amazing and is something I've never experienced in modern movies. Read Denby's article and get ready to reignite your love for silents.

It is because of Denby's article I was reminded how much I enjoy the theatrical quality that silent movies retain and I have made a date to go see Wings (1927) this Saturday at the Music Box Theatre. If you are in Chicago, I highly suggest you go too. There will be live organ accompaniment and it will be magical.

Hello!

Kathy here. I'm the history nerd behind this blog as well as one half of the stationery shop 16 Sparrows. I'm also co-founder of the member- based group, The Letter Writers Alliance. If you are new here, check out some of the most popular posts and work your way from there.

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Dec 6th (Sunday)World-WideVirtual Letter Social3pm-4:30pm Central
Join Kathy and Donovan via live video as we write some letters. This would be a great time to knock some of your holiday cards out while "meeting" some of your fellow members.Event Page

Jan, 10th (Sunday)World-WideL.W.A. Book Club12:30-1:30pm Central
Join Kathy, Donovan, and a special guest via live video while we discuss 'Letters to the Lost,' by Iona Grey. Discussion and further info can be found on the Goodreads book group page.Join us online: Event Page

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All images, unless otherwise noted, are copyright by me. Please do not use my images without asking. Artist images are copyright by the respective artists. Recipes, magazine spreads, and historical items are copyright by the respective owners/companies.